A/N: I know it has been a really long time. And I'm sorry. I've just felt so demotivated lately and it took quite a bit out of me to finish this chapter. It has been a great journey and I'd like to thank each and every one of you for your reviews and favourites and follows. It means so much that you liked this story and that I could write it for you. This is actually the first story I've finished. Ever. So I feel quite proud of myself for this tiny accomplishment. Please leave a review on this final chapter of During the Curse. Yours sincerely, The Wicked Queen.
"Missing?" Henry repeated. He stepped out of Graham's hold. "What do you mean she's missing?" he shrieked.
Graham tried to be soothing as he broke the news, his voice calm and low. He used that same tactic as he repeated the rehearsed version of what happened. Missing, they decided on. Not kidnapped, or abducted or drugged and smuggled out of a hospital, simply missing. His mother was missing.
Emma remembered when his parents separated, the castle, his tears, how it broke her heart, and how this was infinitely worse. She hated the lie, but she couldn't tell him the truth. His jaw wobbled and he bit his lip to keep from crying.
"Kid…" she reached for his hands. "We're going to find her. Okay?"
Nicholas stepped forward. "Then why are you here?" he demanded. "Shouldn't you be looking for her? Or searching for the intruders? Doing your job? You-"
"How'd she go missing if she was in a hospital?" Ava asked.
"Where's my dad? He's helping, right?"
The amount of questions that came from three different directions had Emma feeling whiplashed. They stared at her, each expecting an answer. She looked next to her at Graham for help.
"We are doing our job," he said to Nick. "And right now, that's getting you three to safety."
"That's bullsh-"
"Nicholas!" Ava reprimanded, pulling him back by his sleeve.
He glanced at her. "No, it is. It's bull. We're fine. Regina's office was broken into, then there was a fire at City Hall, we were nearly attacked in our own home, and you're telling me checking up on us is your priority right now? Really?" he demanded.
No answer came. Everyone had turned silent at this point.
He looked from Graham to Emma and shook his head in disbelief. "Don't any of these events seem related to you?"
Emma stepped closer to try and calm him. "Kid-"
"Don't call me that! I'm not your kid." He yanked out of her reach when she touched his arm. "She's missing and you're here. Your top concern shouldn't be babysitting us. It should be finding my…" he trailed off, eyes wide. The anger of his outburst was replaced by shock and embarrassment. He looked down quickly. "F-Finding the mayor," he finished softly.
No one spoke for the next moment. Emma sputtered in her attempts at speech and ended up just gesturing Henry in the direction of the cruiser. The twins followed without a word. Nick avoided her eyes.
She took a deep breath and turned to Graham. His expression matched hers – stunned bafflement.
"He's… The boy's just upset, Emma," he said, trying to be of comfort.
She shook her head. "No, he's right. We're wasting time." She stepped away from him. "I'll take the kids back to my place. Mary-Margaret will take care of them. You head back to the hospital."
He nodded and turned for his cruiser. Emma watched them drive off before getting in hers. She slid into the leather seat and grabbed the steering wheel carefully. Her arms were starting to itch under the bandages. She turned the key in the ignition. They spent the car ride in an unbearably tense silence. Emma was scared to break it, feared the storm it would unleash.
…
"It's right here," he said desperately. "It's right here. So close I can smell it. Six hours and-"
"Greg," she said tiredly. "It's not safe. Not yet."
"But-"
"I know," she breathed. "I know. It's so close. After all these years of searching it's finally in your grasp… I get it. But we need to be careful. Going in now would be dangerous. It would bring unnecessary attention to us."
Tamara stirred her drink while he was silent on the end. She knew these pauses were just moments of reflection, just moments to think things through.
"And there is that barrier spell," he muttered, as if confessing a horrible sin.
She took a sip and hummed in agreement. "We just have to wait. Until the curse breaks. And according to Home Office it'll be soon. That way it will seem like the breaking of the curse ended the barrier spell. Deflect suspicion from you when you get there."
The front door opened. Tamara switched voices. "That's great, Sammy!" she said excitedly. Neal stepped into the kitchen. She mouthed, "Hi," to him before continuing with her imaginary conversation. "Okay. Give Joey my best." She laughed a bit then hung up.
She turned to Neal with a bright smile. "You'll never guess what just happened," she gushed.
He shrugged. "What?"
"Sammy got promoted to head nurse."
…
"Good luck," Gold called, stopping David just before he left the store. The prince turned around. "Good luck, Deputy. Finding your wife."
He gave the man a stony look before he hurried out the door. It was cold. He closed his leather jacket tighter around himself and walked quickly down the street to his truck.
"Oi Deputy!"
David turned to see Moe French walking in his direction. He approached with his daughter, Lacey, who offered a polite smile in response to David's irritated huff of breath as he stopped to speak to them. He nodded his greetings, attempting to be polite.
Moe cut straight to it. "Listen, Deputy, I've got a problem. One of my vans was stolen and-"
David nodded and made to move around them. "I'll look into it," he promised.
"Wait a minute! I-"
"I'm actually in the middle of something right now," David interrupted. "I have to go." He walked off.
"Ay!" Moe called angrily. When David ignored him, he continued grumbling unhappily about the poor law enforcement in town.
…
They were on the sidewalk outside her apartment building. She looked to Nicholas and Ava for help. Henry was rambling on and on about the curse, about her having magic, and using it to find his mother. She sympathized with him and her heart broke that he'd resorted back to the delusions, but she had to get him to see reason.
"Henry, we are going to find your mother." He took a shaky breath of relief. She mentally prepared herself to deliver the devastating blow. "But not with magic," she said softly. "Magic isn't real. The curse isn't real and-"
"No!" Henry snapped. "The curse is real. Magic is real! And you are the Saviour! You need to help us! You need to do your job."
"And what exactly is that?" she snapped back. "What is my job?"
Henry didn't flinch. "Breaking the curse," he said with glassy eyes. "Saving everyone. Bringing back the happy endings."
She shook her head. "And how am I supposed to do that, Henry?" she cried. "How?" Her eyes started tearing in response to the tears that ran down his cheeks. She wiped at her face furiously. "How am I supposed to break a curse? How am I supposed to save everyone?"
I couldn't even save you, she thought.
He sniffled and wiped at his eyes too. Her face crumpled and she knelt in front of him. She reached up to his wipe away his tears but her hands shook. He looked so broken.
"I'm… I'm n-not a Saviour, kid." She was crying now, tears of frustration, failure and guilt. "I'm not… I can't," she gasped. "I'm not hero ma-material. I c-can't break your curse."
"Yes, you can," Henry insisted, stepping closer to her, hope burning in his eyes. "You were born to break the curse. You were born the Saviour," Henry continued. "It's your destiny. We're all counting on you, Emma. Me, Ava, Nicholas, your parents, the town... Everyone-"
She breathed a broken laugh. Then you're all screwed, she thought as she stood and took a step back.
She wiped her hands over her face and looked at them. It wasn't until she saw Henry face that she realised she said it out loud. She reached for him quickly. "Henry…"
He dodged her touch. "No," he shook his head. "You're supposed to help us. You were supposed to fix things. To save…" More tears fell. "But everything's gotten so much worse since you got here. Everything," he screamed. "I should never have gone after you!"
Ava came closer and tried to pull him back. "Henry-"
"I wish I never found you!" Nicholas caught him by the shoulders and pulled him back. "My mom is gone and you won't even try!"
Nick finally got him back, but Henry spun in his grasp. He turned and ran inside the apartment building. Nick darted after him. Ava gave her an apologetic glance before turning and running after the boys.
…
"Woah, woah!" Graham exclaimed, breaking up the two men as he stepped into the security room. "What the hell is going on here?" he demanded of his deputy once his fist had been separated from Leroy's neck.
David looked past him at Leroy. "If that tape doesn't come forth right this second-"
"He will be detained," the sheriff said firmly.
He gave David one final shove to the other side of the room and got Leroy to explain the situation. After assurances that he wouldn't lose his job, Leroy complied and showed them the real security footage.
…
His pacing ended as soon as the old monitors came to life and nine blocks of black-and-white footage appeared on the screens. David joined Graham quickly and watched.
The sheriff fast-fowarded the tapes. One camera showed the doctor and nurse speeding down a corridor. The next had a clearer shot of them. David's eyes found and stuck to Regina's still form. He couldn't tell if she was breathing. And then, he wasn't either. If she was gone…
He swallowed. If she was gone... His lip quivered. He bit it. His hands trembled. He hid them in his pockets. If she was gone…
With great difficulty, he forced his eyes to the screen at the top right corner. This one was inside the operating room. The doctor and nurse barked orders at the assisting nurse and she fled the room. They shut it quickly from the inside. They loaded her onto a gurney, then into what looked like the back of a van. The van's doors shut.
He watched the supposed doctor close the door from the outside. The cameras continued playing. He looked from one to the next. Nurses came and went. Doctors roamed the halls. A few patients loitered around the waiting areas. A couple stood by a vending machine. A little girl with a cast on her leg sat unhappily in a wheel chair. The hospital continued functioning. As if nothing were amiss. He looked away from the screen in anger. His eyes landed on Leroy.
"You saw this?" he demanded. "You sat by and let this happen? Or did you drink yourself into a coma and miss it?" he snarled.
I'm going to kill him, David thought.
Graham stepped in front of him again, blocking him from hurting Leroy. David shoved him away but took a step back, put space between himself and the drunken fool he once sat merrily with. With Snow, some part of himself reminded.
"What's that?"
Their heads snapped to Walter, who decided to replay the last part of the operating room tape. David looked closer. Just as the doors shut, the image was paused. It was blurred, but David was sure it had a green vine font on one of the doors. One he'd seen before. Plenty of times before. His brows pulled together as he thought. He'd seen it before. He knew it. But where? Where-
Anniversaries and Valentine's days. White roses and blue tulips. Game of Thorns, he recalled. Moe French.
"Listen, Deputy, I've got a problem. One of my vans was stolen…"
…
Why didn't Moe do this himself? David wondered as he tracked the missing van through its GPS tracker. A still red dot appeared on the small screen of the device in his hand. The van was parked near the old cannery.
...
"You okay?"
Emma startled at the question and looked away from the building to his hesitant tone. She'd been shocked into silence for the last few moments or so, had just looked at the building after they all ran inside.
He seemed mildly concerned. She shook her head. "I'm fine."
August raised a brow – he didn't believe her – and stepped forward. His leg wobbled and with a grimace he changed direction to a nearby bench.
"What's up with your leg?" she asked, following him.
He sat down. "Nothing. Just a cramp." She gave him the same look he'd given her a few seconds ago. He blew out a huff of air and rubbed his leg through the denim of his jeans. The material lifted. Emma's eyes widened.
"Is- is- is… th-that… Is that wood?" His head snapped up to her.
His wide eyes lit up. "You can see it?"
"Prosthetic leg?" she asked, grappling for reason. She shook her head. It was just a prosthetic leg, she tried to tell herself. It's just….
"You believe?" His breathing was coming fast now. "You can see it?" he asked, voice weak and raspy. "You believe."
Her eyes were wide and on his leg. "B-believe? Believe what?"
August doubled over on the bench. "In magic," he grunted, rubbing his leg. "Only people who believe can see it."
She shook her head. It was too much. Too much to take in. Too much to comprehend. The curse wasn't- The curse isn't real, she tried to tell herself. It isn't… It isn't real. It isn't real. It isn't real. It… It… It was real. The curse is real, she finally admitted to herself.
Her legs wobbled and Emma realised she'd already known, that she already believed Henry.
August groaned in pain. She tried to move it was frozen, tried to look away but found her eyes fixed on his wooden leg.
He stiffened before letting out a shallow breath. "Well then, Saviour," he rasped, "I-"
"Saviour," she laughed, an edge of panic. Saviour, she scoffed. A saviour who'd been living the last few months in denial. "Don't really feel like much of a Saviour," she admitted shakily.
He looked down. "That's… That's m-mainly my fault. I f-f-failed you." He coughed and patted at his chest. "I was supposed to… to guide you." More coughing. "To help you. To teach you about your destiny… teach you about our world."
"What? What do you- What- What are you talking about? The... The book… Henry's storybook… I was a baby w-w-when the…" she trailed off, couldn't finish that ridiculous sentence. "You couldn't even have been older than nine."
"Seven," he corrected. A moment passed. "I think…" He rubbed his chest and gasped. "I think you should know my name." He let out another grunt. "I'm sorry," he whispered, wheezing. "It's been getting harder to walk lately. Now, it's… It's harder to… to breath. I…"
"August," she panicked, stepping closer. She knelt on the ground next to the bench and grabbed his hand.
His head snapped to the contact. His hand came over hers. He gasped again, took deeper breaths, and met her eyes. Pain was evident on his face.
"My name," he tried. His voice broke and the wheezing became worse. "Mmm… my… n-name."
Henry. The book. The new story. She squeezed his hand. "I know it," she said through a teary smile. "You added your story, didn't you?" He coughed, rubbed at his chest, and nodded. "You're Pinnochio."
"In the wood."
She felt her face contort in a cringe at the awful pun. "Pinnochio," she repeated, shaking her head. "Pinnochio," she said again, more disbelief. "I can't…" she burst off into laughter. Hysterical laughter.
His fingers began to turn. Her laughter stopped. He held up his hand and gave each finger an experimental flick. They trembled when he tried to close and open his hand.
He caught her eyes, showed her his hand, and asked once more, "You see it?"
Emma nodded. "Yeah." Her eyes were filling with tears and spilling just as quickly. "Yeah, I do, but..." She wiped at her eyes furiously. "August, h-how do I stop this?"
"Break the curse," he rasped.
His neck began to turn to wood. His breathing became even worse. "Okay," she rushed, "okay, I'll do it, but I need you to tell me how."
August's lips curved into a crooked smile. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked. His face was turning to wood now, it was spreading from his throat and forehead. "Think of every fairy-tale ever told. There's only one way to break a curse. Tr..."
The words died on wooden lips. "August?" she cried, horrified, as she clutched at his chest. His body went still.
…
Felix's eyes locked on Regina – they lowered to her middle. "Pan never loses," he said again, calmer this time.
He'd been rambling until Hook cut him off with a forceful punch. His next movement invoked a blur of action. He reached into his pocket, withdrew something and pulled his arm back to throw it at the Queen. Killian lunged forward. The object flew. A hook punctured the boy's chest. A dull heart. Wide eyes. Green sparks. It fell. A vortex of swirling green chaos erupted. A portal was opened.
…
"August… No, no, no," she cried, pulling him up as she got onto the bench next to him. "August…"
She muffled her tears against his unbreathing chest. Wood. He turned to wood. Wood! How the fuck was she supposed to fix this? Her tears had dried at this point, but her head was aching. His words kept playing in her head, him talking about failing her.
"You didn't fail me," she blurted. "You didn't," she repeated, firmer this time.
He had to know that. He couldn't die believing he'd failed her. He was a just scared little kid with too much responsibility forced on his shoulders. Besides…
He came back, she thought with a teary smile. He was only one who had left and decided to come back.
She remembered words of Henry's book: "And yes she was beyond hope, she was beyond saving..."
"But Prince Charming had to say goodbye," she remembered. "He had to give Snow White one last kiss."
His irises were just blue paint now. She touched his face. "You didn't fail me, August," she whispered.
This isn't a sleeping curse, Emma thought as she looked at his unmoving wooden form. "And I am not about to fail you." She leaned forward. Her lips hovered over his.
…
David rushed to the cannery, broke ever speed limit he was employed to enforce, and had barely parked his car before he exited it and ran toward the abandoned building.
It was dark inside. He had his gun and flashlight aimed ahead of him and stepped cautiously forward. He heard a yell. It was followed by a chaos of wind. He sped forward, toward the sound. It sounded like a tornado, whirling winds of destructive force. His skin prickled as he neared the door.
The air felt different, alive and static, charged with energy. Magic, he knew at once. Chills ran through him. He kicked it open. The noise stopped. The room was empty.
…
It was the moment the Saviour's lips touched her true love's that a gust of wind swept through the land and a pure and blinding light was seen, thus finally breaking the Evil Queen's Dark Curse.
